FBI is not in Brazil to investigate anti-democratic acts, contrary to what the video says – 04/10/2023 – Politics

It is misleading that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), the Federal Police of the United States, landed in Brazil to investigate the acts of January 8, as claimed by a viral video on TikTok. The US embassy clarified to the report that “the representatives of the United States have no mandate or jurisdiction to conduct operations in Brazilian territory”.

On the institution’s website, the FBI, as verified by Projeto Comprova, clarifies that it only conducts investigations in other countries by invitation. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told BBC News in January that Brazil has not formally requested cooperation in the investigation.

The man who appears in the video claims that the alleged arrival of the FBI to Brazil would have been triggered by a request from deputies of the Democratic Party of the United States.

As reported by BBC News and the Washington Post, a group of 46 Democratic deputies signed a letter sent to US President Joe Biden, asking the country to take measures to avoid serving as a “refuge” to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time. Parliamentarians associate Bolsonaro’s actions with the January 8 invasion of the Planalto Palace, Congress and the Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal), in Brasília.

The letter has a quote to the FBI, but does not imply the arrival of US agents on Brazilian territory: “We ask that the FBI and other relevant US law enforcement agencies investigate any actions that may have been taken on US soil to organize this attack on the Brazilian government”. That is, the requested investigation would be to find out whether the anti-democratic acts were organized and/or coordinated by people who were in the United States.

Contrary to what the uninformative video points out, it was not because of the alleged arrival of the FBI to Brazil that the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, provided clarifications to the Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship of the Chamber of Deputies. The purposes of the convening were to clarify changes in the federal government’s gun control policy; explain the actions taken by his ministry and the government after the attacks that took place on January 8; explain his visit to Complexo da Maré; in addition to taking stock of the first months of work at the head of the Ministry, citing priorities and guidelines for the rest of the year.

In the report, the Ministry of Justice said that “the hypothesis constitutes nonsense” and that “such an investigation by the FBI does not exist and is legally impossible”.

As there were no FBI agents coming to Brazil, this was also not the motivation for the return of former President Bolsonaro to the country, as stated by the author of the disinformation content.

Misleading, for Comprova, is content removed from the original context and used in another so that its meaning undergoes changes; that uses inaccurate data or that induces an interpretation different from the author’s intention.

Reach

Comprova investigates suspicious content with greater reach on social networks. As of April 10, the TikTok post had been viewed 359,900 times and received 16,700 likes and 1,300 comments.

How do we check

First, we searched Google for “FBI lands in Brazil to investigate” and “FBI lands in Brazil to investigate coup acts in Brasilia”. We found similar content checks made by other fact-checking agencies (Lupa and Boatos.org).

The search also returned a BBC report from January of this year related to the topic.

Next, we searched for “Flávio Dino CCJ” and found the link to the video of the audience, in full, in which the minister recently participated in the Chamber.

Finally, based on the clues obtained after reading the contents, we sent an email to the press office of the US Embassy and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. We also tried to contact the author of the viral video.

What the person responsible for the publication says

The report tried to contact the author of the post from a Twitter account that bears the same name as the profile that published the video on TikTok, but did not receive a response until the publication of this verification.

What can we learn from this check

The author of the misleading post uses artifices to generate the illusion of importance and urgency in those who watch the video, such as the expression “Bomba!”, right at the beginning, accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack. These elements serve to capture the attention of the person who comes into contact with the piece of misinformation and to boost the sharing of the post, which seems to present “bombastic”, “exclusive” information.

Another sign that the video is not based on reliable information is that, at no time, does the author cite the source of the content he is promoting.

why do we investigate

Comprova monitors suspicious content published on social networks and messaging apps about public policies and elections at the federal level and opens investigations for those publications that have achieved greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984. Suggestions and questions related to questionable content can also be sent to Sheet via WhatsApp 11 99486-0293.

Other checks on the topic

The Lupa agency and the Boatos.org website recently checked different videos that claim that the FBI was in Brazil to investigate the Lula government or the anti-democratic acts of January 8.

The FBI has also appeared in other pieces of disinformation checked by Comprova. In this, we identify that it is false that the body requested the extradition and arrest of Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

The investigation of this content was carried out by Grupo Sinos and A Gazeta and published on April 10 by Projeto Comprova, a coalition that brings together 41 vehicles to check viral content. It was verified by Folha, Estadão, Plural Curitiba, O Popular and imirante.com.